Spurs' Jermain Defoe: My dare way to heaven...

JERMAIN DEFOE has allowed himself the ­ultimate luxury of daring to dream about ­Tottenham facing the ­favourites Barcelona at Wembley in the final of European football’s most prestigious club competition.

What seemed an impossible task on August 17, 2010, when Spurs were 3-0 down after just 28 minutes of their opening Champions League qualifier at Young Boys of Berne, now – tantalisingly – appears a far less outlandish prospect.

Excitement burning in his eyes, Defoe said: “Wow, can you imagine? A Spurs Barcelona final… Imagine the fans. It would be amazing.

“Once you get through to the quarters – and we are not yet looking past AC Milan – then I believe anything can happen.

“You would approach a quarter-final like a final; win that and you’re in the semis.So yes, it’d be crazy if we can get that far and even go on.You never know with knockout football – there are always shocks over the years.”

In many ways, Spurs have been one of the shocks of the tournament; free-scoring away from home and unbeaten at White Hart Lane in the group stages, they even finished above current holders Inter Milan.

And now it is Inter’s city rivals AC Milan that stand between Tottenham and the quarter-finals, with tonight’s first-leg tie at the San Siro.

Whatever their travails of late, AC are top of Serie A and still have the pedigree in seven European titles that serves as sufficient warning that they should not be taken lightly.

But despite an increasing injury list, Defoe is confident.

The experience gleaned from another memorable night in Milan in October, when Spurs came back from a first-half 4-0 trouncing to hit three goals in a 4-3 loss, with hat-trick hero Gareth Bale imperious, will stand them in good stead.

Defoe missed that group-stage loss with an ankle injury that kept him out for three months and, although he may have suffered a Premier League scoring drought, three of his five goals for Tottenham came in the Champions League.

And in a team who have recorded the highest Premier League points – 20 – this season from losing positions, there is no dread attached to another trip to Milan.

Defoe said: “It’s a game I believe we can win. No, there is no fear. If you’re scared, then you might as well not go. What’s there to be scared of? I’m playing with good players, I’m not scared. And I know – I’m not sure, I know – the rest of the boys are confident because of the way we’re playing.

“AC Milan are a great side – look at the times they’ve won the Champions League – and have good experience.

“But the way they play, the Italian League is slower than the Premier League , everyone knows that. If we go there and play with the same intensity we do in the Premier League, press with a high tempo, then maybe we’ll cause them a lot of problems. And especially the way we play, the way we break, the legs and the pace we’ve got in the team, I believe we can go there and win.”

But what Tottenham simply cannot afford is another early dramatic away collapse. Defoe said: “You can’t. It’s a mountain to climb. To do that again, especially against a strong AC Milan team, would be difficult. We’ve got to start well, the first 20 minutes will be important.

“At this level, when the other team get chances, they normally take them. It’s normally another three to four steps up compared to the Premier League. But I keep saying it, we’ve got great players.

“There are players who have come into the club – Rafael van der Vaart and William Gallas – who have done well. Rafa has scored goals and William has been a massive signing as well.

“He’s a good leader, gets everyone going, has great experience and has played in World Cups and Champions League semi-finals.

“There are players at the club who have been there and done it. It will be a really interesting game.”

And like Defoe says...you never know.

Jermain Defoe was talking at an event at Southbury Primary School in Enfield, where he joined budding young athletes as part of a Tottenham Hotspur Foundation-run Planning, Preparation and Assessment (PPA) session.